Jilin City (Chinese: 吉林市; pinyin: Jílín Shì, Manchu: ᡤᡳᡵᡳᠨ ᡥᠣᡨᠣᠨ, Girin Hoton) is the second-largest city and former capital of Jilin province in Northeast China. As of the 2010 census, 4,414,681 people resided within its administrative area of 27,120 square kilometres (10,470 sq mi) and 1,975,803 in its built-up area consisting of 4 urban districts. A prefecture-level city, it is the only major city in China that shares its name with its province.

Jilin City is also known as the River City because of the Songhua River surrounding much of the city. In 2007, it hosted the Asian Winter Games.

Coordinates: 43°42′N 126°12′E / 43.7°N 126.2°E / 43.7; 126.2

Jilin (Chinese: 吉林; pinyin: Jílín; Wade–Giles: Chi-lin, IPA: [tɕǐlǐn] ( listen); Postal map spelling: Kirin), is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west. The name was transliterated to Kirin before standardization to pinyin.

The name "Jilin" probably originates from Girin ula ᡤᡳᡵᡳᠨ ᡠᠯᠠ, a Manchu term meaning "along the river"; this was transcribed into Jilin wula (T: 吉林烏拉 / S: 吉林乌拉) in Chinese, then shortened to Jilin. The literal meaning of the Chinese characters for "Jilin" is "auspicious forest".

In ancient times, Jilin was inhabited by various peoples, notably the Xianbei, Koreans, the Mohe and the Wùjí (勿吉). Various Korean kingdoms, including the Buyeo, Goguryeo and Balhae, were established in this area.

The region then fell successively under the domination of the Khitan Liao Dynasty, the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, and the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, much of the area was under the control of the General of Jilin, whose area of control extended to the Sea of Japan to encompass much of what is Russia's Primorsky Krai today. Immigration of Han Chinese was strictly controlled.^[when?]